Soap classic 'Flordeluna' returns to TV, this time on IBC 13
May 23, 2018 Posted at May 22 2018 11:55 AM | Updated as of May 23 2018 01:49 AM Kylie del Rosario. Photo from Twitter account MANILA, Philippines -- After more than 40 years since it debuted on television, the well-loved soap opera that turned child star Janice de Belen who played the lead in the classic teledrama in 1978 and Eliza Pineda in 2007 into a household name is returning to the small screen on both TV and radio. On Monday, IBC 13 and Secarats Television, which produces the soap opera, announced that young actress Kylie del Rosario, was chosen to play the title role of a kind-hearted high school girl "who has a moral lesson in learning her path and her rich family which is the Alicante family." Kylie, 15, who discovered as a young talented superstar of the Secarats Artist Group. "Excited na excited kasi pangarap ko talaga magkaroon ng lead role," Del Rosario said about her big break "Mabait po ako (as Flordeluna) at na-kidnap po ako sa aking tunay na magulang." Apart from del Rosario, Nasaan Ka, Flordeluna? also stars Diether Ocampo, Jed Montero, Jennica Garcia, Rico Barrera, Hilda Koronel, Phillip Salvador, Kyle Vergara, Janina Vela, Emilio Garcia, Lyka Ugarte and E.R. Ejercito, with today's crop of Secarats young stars Francis Ryan Lim, Michael Tañeca and Lorin Gabriella Bektas. Today's young corners are getting plenty of exposure on the daily soaps that dominate the top two network's primetime hours. True to the original Once a best-selling radio soap opera and the unforgettable TV serial in 1978, RPN-9 revolutionized the early evening programming by producing Flordeluna, a daily serial that started the soap opera craze and one of the iconic teleseryes in the history of Philippine television. Flordeluna is the title charcter of a hit radio drama created by Marcos Sacol, the program adapted for the small screen under RPN-9 premiered in 1978 and ended with an incomplete story in 1984. The soap revived in 2007 under ABS-CBN as the title Maria Flordeluna. as a Kapamilya television series and a DZMM radio drama. In an interview with News.IBC.com.ph, the show’s director Laurice Guillen said Nasaan Ka, Flordeluna? will remain true to the original storyline with a new twist, which will feature a high school teenager. “We got the name of the characters but mayroon kaming babaguhin. Like the Leo character played by Jess Lapid Jr., in the original version and Albert Martinez in the 2007 version. Dito gagawin namin siyang mabuti at hindi na siya two-dimensional character. Meaning mga tao ang mga ito. Wala nang mabait or siya yung good. Parang totoong tao ang gagampanan ng mga tao sa Nasaan Ka, Flordeluna?, he said. The director also said he is confident that Kylie will do criminal to the iconic role. He also adds that they created several characters to add more flavor to the story and to keep the story up to date. “Masasabi ko sa bata na mabait, malambing at sweet, mabilis magtiwala at malalim. Malalim ang pinaghuhugutan niya based sa kanyang personal na buhay at ang potential magaling,” he said. 'Soap operas' :In 1979, RPN-9 revolutionized the early evening programming by producing Flordeluna, a daily serial that started the soap opera craze on Philippine television. GMA- 7 came up with Anna Liza, while BBC-2 introduced Jaypee de Guzman in Blu.